A small amount of impurity deliberately added to a pure substance to change its electrical or physical properties, commonly used in semiconductor manufacturing.
From the verb 'dope' (to add impurities) + -ant suffix. The 'dope' meaning comes from Dutch 'doop' (sauce), originally slang for adding substances, later applied to semiconductors.
Every transistor and computer chip depends on dopants—tiny amounts of impurities (like boron or phosphorus) added to silicon transform it into the semiconductors that power civilization, showing how sometimes a tiny change creates massive effects.
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